


Part-Time

by Arctimon



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arctimon/pseuds/Arctimon
Summary: Wonder what the members of the Big Hero 6 gang do when they're not saving the city? Let's take a deep dive into what they do in their spare time: jobs, hobbies, meeting new people, and maybe some new opportunities along with them. Hints of multiple pairings. The finale, Honey Lemon & Fred Are In The Market, is now up!  Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Big Hero 6. I also do not know the Marvel character appearing later in this chapter._

_Now put on some nice music, preferably some Monstercat stuff. I think you'll like it._

* * *

_**Chapter 1 – Go Go Delivers** _

The alarm went off, and before it could ring twice, Go Go's hand came down upon the clock. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up straight in her bed. The sun was just about to peak over the horizon.

Twilight. This was her favorite time of day. The quiet, the cool air, the stillness around her…

OK, maybe not right then. Honey Lemon's snoring was currently cutting through said stillness, but luckily the earplugs at least helped her enough to get some sleep.

She stepped out of her bed, her legs immediately being swarmed by balls of fur.

"OK. C'mon. You guys are probably hungry."

Moments later, the cats were headfirst into their food bowls, Go Go watching them. She took a head count and noticed something was off.

"Where's your sister at?"

A quick check in the cat bed turned up the last kitten, upside down as she was still asleep.

Smiling, Go Go scratched its belly. "C'mon, Harley. Wake up; you're dreaming."

Slowly, the brown and white cat turned over, blinked, and looked up at its owner. It let out a soft meow as it made its way over to her sisters.

An unexpected outcome of them saving Fish Town from Obake's plan came in the form of four cats (well, one cat and three kittens) that Go Go had attempted to reunite with their family to no avail. After a couple of weeks with no takers, she had taken them in herself. A few vet visits and vaccinations later, they had settled into the top level of her apartment. She was worried initially about what Honey Lemon would think, who was also a fairly new addition to her home. Unsure, Go Go had tried to sequester the felines to the upstairs.

And then during the tail-end of a late night conversation with her, Star had poked her head down the stairs.

And cuteness overload had begun.

The two ended up staying up another thirty minutes, Honey Lemon giggling madly and playing with the cats and Go Go sitting there staring at her. When she had asked the Korean if the kittens had names yet, she made the mistake of saying no. Honey Lemon's head was halfway into the monitor of her computer looking up cat names before Go Go promised her she could name two of the kittens if they could just go to bed.

After they got back from their statue ceremony, they finally came up with names. Star had already been taken by the mother, the all-white kitten was dubbed Bianca, and the black and white one was christened Luna. The brown and white one, who was currently sleeping in her food bowl, was-

Wait.

Go Go had walked back up the stairs, cereal in her hand, to see the runt of the group just napping away in her food bowl. Amused, she turned to Star, who had perched herself on her bed. "Make sure she eats her food. I have to go soon. Meow very loudly for Honey Lemon if you need anything, OK?"

She stepped out into the cool air, her blades now on her feet. She pressed a few buttons on her gloves as she tried to find some good traveling songs for the morning. The gloves that Hiro had given her for Christmas were a lifesaver, able to wirelessly connect to her phone as well as all of her music.

Go Go started scrolling through the menus. Nothing seemed good. And then she got to the end.

Turns out even Fred knew how to add stuff to her phone. There was a bunch of new music added, with a little note from Fred: _Blast it to eleven on your adventures around the city!_

"I wouldn't exactly call them...adventures," she muttered as she scrolled through the list. "More like...expeditions. But the sentiment is appreciated."

She hit the Restart button to reboot the tech. It hadn't been turned off in a while, and she didn't want two stubs as hands from overtaxing the gloves. Once rebooted, she chose a random song and hit Play.

She gave it a few seconds, nodding her head to the beat. "Hmm. Not bad, Fred. Don't remember hearing this on that car soccer game you play, but whatever."

She looked down at her wrist to see the title. "Huh. Always wanted to go there."

With that, she was off.

* * *

Since it was so early in the morning, the streets of San Fransokyo were more open to her than normal. She could take to the center of the road and not have to worry about cars for the most part. It being Sunday didn't hurt either.

That was part of the reason why she had taken the job at the courier's office in the first place. Flexible hours, good pay. Didn't need a car. She did have her cycle for heavier things, but a lot of the stuff she delivered was hand-to-hand, which was significantly easier to do on her blades.

Her first stop, however, was not the post office.

Aunt Cass was standing in front of the Lucky Cat Cafe, a cup of coffee and a pastry in her hands. She smiled as Go Go got closer. "Good morning, Go Go."

"Morning, Aunt Cass. The usual?"

She held her arms out to the Korean. "Got you covered."

"Thanks." She took a strong swig of the coffee. "Hiro still in bed?"

"Yeah. I let him sleep in for a little bit."

"A little too young to need beauty rest, isn't he?"

"Well, he was up late last night. Working in the garage with Karmi on something."

Go Go raised her eyebrow. "Oh? What were they working on?"

"Who knows?" Aunt Cass shrugged. "Although I did hear someone scream out there. I didn't hear much more than that."

"...So you'll tell me later?"

"As long as you don't make fun of him."

"Aunt Cass, I would never." Go Go started to drift away from her, towards the downhill part of the road. "What kind of friend do you think I am to Hiro? Certainly not one to pry into every single aspect of his social life."

"Uh huh." She crossed her arms as Go Go almost reached the crest of the down-slope. "How exactly do you plan on getting to your job on time? Isn't it all the way down near the water?"

"Simple." Go Go gave her two fingered salute, smiling. "Inertia."

Without turning around, she went down the hill, leaving Aunt Cass with her own smirk.

"Kids these days."

* * *

One full backpack and stomach later, Go Go was busy trotting out her mail to the denizens of San Fransokyo. The music was still blaring in her ears, but her attention was still as sharp as ever, even with more cars starting to appear on the road.

The first stop was the port, delivering some very important papers to the fisherman there. It was nice to see all of the guys there, who knew her by name, and also tried to trip her up with the catch of the day...literally.

She ducked as the third salmon came flying over her head, the foreman signing for the package on the 3D display from her glove. "You guys have to work on your aim."

"We'd be better if you came around more often."

"I've been a little busy. Sorry that I can't be your target practice."

"We'd normally have Carl," the foreman said, finishing his signature with a flourish, "But he's home resting."

"From what?"

"...Fish to the face."

A few stops later, she was at the church, handing off some poster tubes to the pastor there. She should've gone there first and gotten it over with, because all of the old people were just beginning service and started asking questions about her marital status.

Yup, Go Go got out of there real quick.

Her next stop was back up the hill, so Go Go grabbed one of the trolley cars going up and held onto the pole from the outside. The conductors didn't mind; they knew she was good for the fare.

She took a glance above the Golden Gate Bridge and saw some gray clouds forming above them. Great, just what she needed. Inclement weather incoming.

"You know, they said that it brings good luck for the young."

Go Go turned to the old woman in the trolley. "Huh?"

"The storm." She nodded off to the clouds coming in.

"...Who's 'they'?"

"The elders, sweetie." The woman turned her attention back to Go Go. "Tell me, Dearie, have you checked your astrological houses recently? They could really help you out."

Go Go stared at her wordlessly. She slowly let go of the pole she was holding and let the trolley continue up the hill, leaving her at the next intersection.

"...Why can't I just talk to a normal person for a change?" She turned to skate off. "Maybe someone younger?"

_One minute later..._

Go Go pried open the door of the daycare center, the crowd of ankle-biters grasping at her legs. "OK, maybe a little too young!"

She slammed the door closed, danger averted.

Or at least she thought.

"Are you my mommy?"

Eyes widened, she glanced down at her leg, where a young child was still bear-hugging her shin.

"...No."

_Another minute later..._

Go Go sat down on the curb, her energy bar almost gone. She was almost done with her deliveries (and child-leech free). There was just one place left to go, according to her checklist.

She skimmed to the end of the display on her glove...and grinned.

* * *

Her very last stop was a flower shop all the way across town. Go Go pulled up to the parking spot right in front on her motorcycle. Carrying two relatively heavy boxes with her hands wasn't going to cut it, especially with the distance.

As she put her kickstand up, she looked at the sign hanging above the green awning: **Rodrigo's Roses**. It was a small place, but it was where Honey Lemon got all of her flowers for the apartment, and she was also friends with the owner. Go Go was as well, but...

Well, you'll see.

She walked through the front door, the bell ringing over her head. "Hey, Old Man, I've told you a million times you should update your sign. You'd probably sell more stuff that way."

The man behind the counter looked up and grinned. "Go Go! ¿ _Como estas_? Haven't seen you around in a while!"

"Good, Mr. Reyes." She walked over to some of the shelves, seeing if there was anything Honey Lemon would want. "I got a couple of boxes for you. Seeds and all that."

"You know, _mi nieto_ is coming into town today. I'm sure he would love to meet you."

"For the last time, Old Man, I'm not looking to settle down." This was a game that he liked to play with her: constantly try to set her up with his grandson. He had never met the guy, but Mr. Reyes had shared enough information about him to fill an encyclopedia, ranging from his job as an auto-mechanic to his run-ins with the law to everything in between.

"He is a nice boy, Go Go! He deserves someone like you to set him straight."

"I'm sure he is, Mr. Reyes." Smirking slightly, she started to head back to the door. "Let me grab those boxes for you."

So, here's the thing.

Go Go, whether on her skates or her cycle, was great at seeing everything on the road. She had to. Safety first and everything.

On her feet...kind of a klutz.

So much so that she didn't even see the door open again.

WOMP!

Go Go walked right smack into the newcomer's chest. She paused for a moment to clear her head, and looked up to see herself in the visor of a motorcycle helmet.

"Uhh...sorry."

The mysterious person brought his gloved hands up to his helmet, lifting it off of his head. Shaking his hair out, he slicked it back, the thick white stripe settling almost perfectly down the middle. He had a fair amount of stubble on his tanned face, a perfect match to the jacket he was wearing. Two white stripes were vertical on his jacket, coming together at the top horizontally.

"No prob."

_Um. Earth to Go Go._

She noticed that her hands were still on his chest and quickly brought them back down. "Sorry."

"You already said that." Narrowing his eyes, he creaked open the door for her. "You headin' out?"

"Uhh...yeah. Just grabbing some boxes for inside."

"Here." He leaned back as far as he could while still holding the door. "I got it."

"...Thanks."

Still a little mesmerized, she walked out and grabbed one of the boxes. The newcomer leaned out of the store and propped the door open with his foot. "Here, give it to me."

Silent, Go Go handed it to him. He scooted back into the doorway and yelled out to Mr. Reyes.

"Yo, _abuelo_! Where do you want these boxes at?"

Now, Go Go didn't know a lot of Spanish (although Honey Lemon was doing her best to rectify that), but she certainly knew what that word was.

Which meant that the newcomer was-

"Roberto!"

Oh no.

… _Ohhhh no._

Go Go walked back into the store to see Mr. Reyes hugging the newcomer. "I didn't know you'd be here so soon."

"They gave me the day off, _abuelo._ I figured I'd come up early and help out."

"Such a sweet boy. Come on, come on." The old man gestured over to the counter, where he and Go Go put their respective boxes. "We need to properly introduce ourselves." He rotated him around to face her. "Go Go, _this_...is my grandson. Roberto Reyes."

"It's...Robbie. For short." He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "No one called me Roberto anymore, except for Gramps."

"Cute." She found herself relaxing a little bit more. "Go Go."

The phone rang from the back office, and Mr. Reyes started walking toward it. "I'll just let you two talk, OK?"

As soon as he picked up the phone, Robbie turned back to Go Go. "Wait. Does that mean you're..."

"I'm what?"

"Gramps always calls me and mentions some girl who delivers to him that would make a good-" He stopped short, realizing what he was saying. "Oh, _dios mio_. I'm so sorry. I assume he gave the same talk to you?"

"...He sure did."

Well, this was getting awkward rather quick. Go Go looked outside to try to find something to break the silence, and noticed a black motorcycle parked right next to hers that she hadn't noticed before. "That your ride?"

Robbie followed her gaze and nodded. "Yup. That yours?"

"Yup. Wanna see?"

"Sure."

They both went out to the sidewalk, where he bent over her bike to examine it. "This is pretty top shelf. You make it yourself?"

"Hours upon hours of hard work, and more money than I care to admit, but yeah."

"Horsepower?"

"About 95, but more if I can push it."  Go Go looked over at his cycle.  "Yours isn't too bad, either. Not as high tech, though."

"Gotta make do with what I got around the garage and scrapyard. But it gets the job done." He turned to her, grinning. "Wanna hear it purr?" Without waiting for a response, he got onto his cycle and started to rev the handle...only for nothing to happen.

"Wait, what?"

"Wow. Color me impressed."

"Haha, very funny." He lifted the cover off of his engine cover, looking it over. "That's the problem with tech these days. A million things can go wrong."

"The coolant."

"Huh?"

"The coolant," she repeated, tapping one of the compartments on the side. "See? Bone dry. Older bikes, especially ones like yours that are made of a bunch of different manufacturers, need more coolant to make longer trips. Here." She lifted her bike seat and threw a green bottle at him. "That should hold you over until you get back to wherever."

"Santa Cruz."

"Oh yeah, that's definitely enough."

Robbie glanced at her as he poured the liquid into the engine. "You sure know your way around a bike. Gramps didn't exaggerate when he talked about you."

Go Go opened her mouth to respond, but Mr. Reyes came out the store, holding some papers. "Go Go! I hate to be a pain, but can you take these down to the police station?"

She took them from him and scanned them over. "These...are police reports. What happened?"

"Are these from the robberies last month?" his grandson asked.

" _Si, si,"_ Mr. Reyes affirmed. "Someone keeps taking soil and seed out of my storage. No idea how. At first, I thought I was just going crazy, but it's gotten to the point where stock is starting to suffer. I went to the police, but they told me to file a report." He turned to Go Go. "I would do it myself, but I have to stay here."

"Umm...sure. No problem."

"You're a lifesaver, Go Go. Now, excuse me; I have to finish with this call."

As Mr. Reyes walked away, both Robbie and Go Go looked over the papers. "He never told me about anyone stealing from him," Go Go said. "That's messed up."

"Probably didn't want to bother you with it," he replied, peeking over her shoulder. "He barely told me about it. I tell you, if I find out who did this, I swear _en mi abuela_ that I'll-"

He stopped as he noticed Go Go mouthing something to herself. "What's up?"

" _Suspects left one red and one yellow cloth tied to the fence at the scene of the crime. No identifying markings..._ " she whispered. She rolled the paper up and stuffed it into her seat. "I know exactly who it is."

"How do you-" He got cut off again as Go Go grabbed her helmet. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To get back your granddad's stuff."

"And how are you going to do that?"

Go Go smirked, looking back at him. "Can't tell you that."

She turned back toward the road, cutting the engine on. She felt another weight come down on her bike as Robbie got onto the seat behind her, helmet in his hand.

"Oh no, you don't! You're about to do something stupid! And I want in!"

* * *

" _They call themselves the Potters. It's a street gang that specialize in small-time crimes. Like what happened at your granddad's store, they normally only take enough for their needs to avoid suspicion. They rely on owners not going to the police and reporting them. The problem is that the group hits a lot of places at the same time and moves the stock all around the city so the cops can't track it. But they always leave the same thing at the crime scene: one red and one yellow bandanna. It's a way to mark their territory."_

" _And you know all of this...how?"_

Go Go paused. He didn't really want to tell him that the Big Hero 6 team had busted them some time ago, so she had to think of something quick. " _Umm...one of my friends got robbed a while ago. Same people. They got busted back then, but it looks like they didn't learn their lesson. If I remember correctly..."  
_

She cut off the engine to the bike, letting it glide the last few feet before coming to a stop. "Their warehouse was right here."

Go Go took her helmet off, trying hard not to notice Robbie's arms still around her waist. She had certainly felt them all throughout the ride, gripping her tightly enough that his biceps were defined even under his jacket.

" _C'mon, Leiko_ ," Go Go thought, pinching her nose. " _Keep your shorts on. You've only known him for maybe twenty minutes. It's not like he's a stubborn hothead like yourself and made his own bike and is built like a-"  
_

She stopped herself, frowning. _Man, I'm going to need to have a talk with myself after this._

The two got off of her bike, parking it next to a large shrub. They were in the woods now, the trees providing some cover to the large warehouse that they were walking toward. Go Go bent down behind some branches as she neared the clearing, Robbie taking a position on her right.

"See?" She pointed to the entrance, where two men were standing guard. The red and yellow bandannas around their sleeves were a dead giveaway. "This must be where they're keeping all of the stuff."

"Nice job, Detective," Robbie joked. "Now, how are we going to get into there (he pointed to the warehouse) from here (he pointed to the ground) without them noticing?" He spotted a high window on the far wall. "Hey, maybe we can climb up there?"

He heard a rustle of the bush next to him, and turned to see Go Go walking straight ahead, right at the two men.

"Or...we can do that. That's cool, too."

* * *

Inside, the men were busy shuffling around boxes upon boxes of goods in the dim light. The boss, towering over them all, was busy barking orders.

"Hey, pick up the pace! This stuff ain't gonna move itself!"

There was a loud knock on the garage door. The boss turned to one of his subordinates. "You. Open the door! It's probably Nico coming back from his heist."

The man went over to the control panel on the wall and hit the green button. The door was open halfway when a mass came through, hitting him and throwing him into a bunch of soil bags.

"What the-"

Through the door came Robbie, cracking his knuckles. "Hey! Don't stop the party, now that we're here! I want a word with the man in charge!"

"For the record," Go Go deadpanned, stepping over the two unconscious guys to stand next to Robbie, "I wanted to just talk. You were the one who started throwing punches. That was all you."

"Yup. All me."

"...You clearly don't pick up on sarcasm well."

"Yo!"

The two stopped to face the boss, who was pointing from him to her rapidly. "You two got a lot of nerve coming in here like this! You know what the Potters do to people like you?"

"Yeah, let's talk about that for a second," Robbie said, ignoring his threat. "Potters? Really? You couldn't come up with a better name? Something a little more...scary?"

"Here's something scary for ya." The man pulled a remote out of his coat and pressed the sole button on it. With a loud clank, the door closed behind Go Go & Robbie, cutting off their exit. "Boys...rough them up a little."

The duo backed up into the door as several goons started to advance on them. Go Go turned to Robbie, who was looking around wildly for something to defend himself. "Got any ideas, smart guy?"

"One." He nodded off to the side, where a pile of chains laid on the ground. "I'll grab that, and I can start swinging. You?"

She took a boxer's stance, arms out in front of her face. "I can defend myself just fine."

"Not with those gloves, you're not. The fancy schmancy ones?"

"Hey, it's all I got! It's not like they can turn into a weapon or-"

She got cut off as her gloves started to glow blue. It was so bright, even the men advancing had to stop and cover their eyes.

Once the light died down, Go Go saw what had happened: the gloves, normally fingerless, were now full-on padded gloves, the tech visible through the fabric crackling with electricity. A couple stray bolts shot around them as Go Go stared at them.

"...Huh. I didn't know they could do that." Renewed with energy, she balled her fists together. "Note to self: remind me to thank Hiro later."

"Yeah, whoever this Hiro guy is, have him make a pair for me."

The boss, recovering from his surprise, pointed at them again. "What're you guys standing around for? Get 'em!"

Robbie dove to his left for the chains as the men stampeded forward. Go Go turned on the spot, kicking off of the door and letting her forward momentum pack some extra power into the first goon.

One of the men who had started toward Robbie turned toward Go Go, a scared look on his face. "Holy-"

His sentence got cut off as the chain link wrapped around his neck, Robbie at the other end of it. With a heave, he threw him into the nearest pile of boxes.

"Hey! Language, pal!"

Go Go launched another right hook at a guy, connecting to his jaw. Dazed, he never felt the leg sweep from underneath, his body falling to the ground.

"Tell me something," Robbie asked, the chains now wrapped around his arms. "Your days always like this?"

"Nope," Go Go responded, ducking a punch and countering with one of her own. "Sometimes...my roommate likes to flood my apartment with butterflies."

"...You live a weird life."

A few moments later, the fight was over. All of the gang members were on the ground, some groaning with pain and others still out cold. Go Go straightened up, panting heavily. Robbie was a little worse for wear, sweat and grease on his face and a few cuts on his jacket, but otherwise good.

"Hey, whatever happened to that boss guy?"

Robbie looked around and saw him making a break towards a back door. "Runnin', that's what!"

Go Go grabbed a nearby barrel and tore the top off of it. Aiming carefully, she tossed it at him, careening off several surfaces before hitting him square in the back of the head.

The lid came back to her hand perfectly as she popped a bubble with her gum. Turning to her left, she saw Robbie, slack-jawed. "What?"

"...Marry me?"

"No," Go Go deadpanned, although she could feel the heat from her cheeks flare up. Maybe she could pass it off as fatigue.

Regaining his composure, Robbie walked over to the boss, grabbing his hair to raise his head. "Now, about that word."

"I ain't talking! Especially not to kids like you!"

"Hey! I just turned twenty a week ago!"

"Robbie." Go Go put her hand on his back. "Let me take a crack at this."

"I ain't afraid of you, girly!"

She simply put her other hand on the ground, electricity crackling around her glove. "Maybe you should be." Seeing him recoil, she continued on. "Here's what's going to happen. _You_...are going to return everything you stole, including the stuff from Rodrigo Reyes. And then you're going to turn yourself into the police. In exchange, we don't do any more damage to your boys."

Go Go leaned closer, the blue from her glove shining in her eyes. "So...do we have ourselves a deal?"

* * *

"I can't believe it! Everything is back! I can't thank you enough, Go Go!"

"Don't thank me, Old Man," she shrugged. "Thank the police. They were the ones that found everything. Right, Robbie?"

Go Go glanced to her left and stuck out an elbow into Robbie's gut. " _Right?"_

"Uhh...yeah. Definitely."

"Smooth."

The two were back at the flower shop, a little over an hour after their excursion with the Potters. True to their word, the gang had emptied out the warehouse in record time, taking all of the stock over to the police station. Suffice to say, the officers were a little shocked, just enough for Go Go and Robbie to make off with his granddad's belongings.

Hey, they wouldn't miss it, right?

Go Go brought up the clock on her glove, the light a little dimmer due to the lost energy. "I have to go. I have to get all of these signatures back to the courier's office." She waved to the two as she turned to walk out of the store. "I'll see you later, Mr. Reyes."

"Bye, Go Go!"

She opened the door, the bell chiming again. It seemed hard to believe that it was only hitting noon now. She was going to need another cup of coffee after this. And maybe, like, twenty hours of sleep.

"Hey!"

Go Go grimaced as she turned on Robbie walking out the shop and up to her. "What?"

"I have, like...so many questions right now. I don't even know where to start."

"Drop it."

"Huh?" Robbie said, confused.

"You're going to thank me for helping out your granddad, and you probably are going to try to offer me something in return for it, right?" Go Go said. "I don't need anything, OK? He has his stuff back; that's all that matters."

He grinned. "So...can I take you out to dinner...or something?"

"...Wow. You're _really_ not good at this, are you?"

"Give me a break; I don't normally come across girls like you where I'm at."

"And I don't normally come across stubborn guys who don't know how to take a hint like you."

They both stared at each other for a few moments, not giving an inch. Finally, Go Go sighed.

"Give me your phone."

Robbie pulled out his cell, and she hovered her hand over the screen. Soft blue light covered the front, wirelessly transmitting the data over to him.

"Call me," she said as she pulled her hand away, "And we'll set up something."

She got up on her cycle, starting it up. She was just about to put her helmet on when she felt something on her shoulder.

"You give me a fake number or something?"

"No." She turned to face him. "Why?"

He held up his cell, showing her the number and name that was given to him. "This says _Leiko_ on here."

Robbie only got a smirk in return as she put her helmet on. "See you later... _Roberto._ "

* * *

Go Go pulled up to her apartment, absolutely beat. It was now early afternoon, and normally she would be getting ready to go out on patrol or make some adjustments to her bicycle. The only thing she wanted, however, was a pillow to put her head upon.

She unlocked the door and walked through, dragging her helmet behind her. "Hey, Honey Lemon. How was-"

She stopped, noticing her roommate sitting at the table, a very suspiciously large smile on her face. "Um...are you OK?"

"I'm perfectly fine."

"...No, you're perfectly creepy. Did something happen? Did Harley finish her food?"

"Oh yeah, she's fine," Honey Lemon said, waving her off. "But I heard about the _strangest_ thing today."

Uh oh. This level of excitement could only mean something bad.

"I was making a dress for one of my online buyers, and I needed some flowers to put on the hems. So I called Rodrigo's..."

 _Oh crap,_ Go Go thought.

"And he told me that _you_ and his _grandson_ totally hit it off today! And that you're going on a date!"

"It's not like that."

The two girls continued to stare at each other for a long moment. Unfortunately, Go Go was the one who blinked first.

"You're not going to let this go until I give you every single detail, are you?"

"Nope!" the Latina replied, her smile growing wider.

Go Go rubbed her eyes as she stepped forward. "Can I at least get coffee first?"

In about two seconds, there was a steaming mug of java in front of the chair next to Honey Lemon. She could've sworn there wasn't even any coffee in the pot behind her. "Umm..."

"Sooo." Honey Lemon patted the chair next to her, beckoning her roommate toward her. "What are you waiting for?"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Holy.

Crap.

I did _not_ think this would be this long. I also think I say this with every chapter I put up.

So, that mystery Marvel character I teased at the beginning. Give a big welcome to the BH6-verse version of Robbie Reyes...aka the New Ghost Rider. I hope that I did him justice with the writing.

I also have to get better at writing action sequences, because I don't think I'm particularly good at them. That's why the one in here is a little shorter. And the Spanish? We're not going to talk about the Spanish. I took seven years of it in middle/high school; you'd think I'd be able to do a little more. Nope.

I absolutely loved writing this chapter. I don't know why exactly. Maybe it's the thought of writing about a new couple (granted, one of my making). Maybe it's because of all of the callbacks I put in.

Or maybe because I managed to sneak in twenty-two Rocket League/Monstercat song titles into this story.

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I forgot to mention that? Want to find them all? Just make your own playlist of Rocket League/Monstercat songs (or have your own Fred make one for you) and have at it. If you find them all, you win...the satisfaction of knowing all of the titles in the story.

I can't guarantee that any of the other chapters of this story will be this long. Or this extravagant. But I guess we'll find out soon, because we'll be dining in with Karmi in Chapter 2. I'm sure a certain celebrity chef will be popping up there at some point.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	2. Karmi Gets Served

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Big Hero 6, or whatever's on the menu for today._

* * *

_**Chapter 2 – Karmi Gets Served** _

"Alright, everyone. Quickly, now."

The staff of _Gramercy_ gathered together in the kitchen, the small counter the only thing separating them from the titular chef. Bolton glanced around at the crowd, taking a silent head count.

"Aren't we missing someone?"

"Me, Chef!"

The crowd slightly parted to let Karmi in, her hair disheveled. "Sorry, I'm late, Chef. Traffic was terrible."

"Do you not walk?"

"I did!" Karmi adjusted her collar and straightened up. "But there was a major police investigation. Apparently they confiscated an entire warehouse of stuff that was stolen. They were still there when I went by and had to detour."

"Hmm," he scoffed. "Well, do be sure to let the police know when you have to work next time so they don't inconvenience you."

There was an awkward silence where a couple of the wait staff started snickering. Karmi paid them no mind, and neither did the famous chef, who continued onward.

"Right. Well, now that we have _everyone_ here (Gramercy cast a glance in Karmi's direction), I want to say a few things before we get dinner service started."

He held his arms out wide as he addressed the group. "Tonight..will be the last night I will be here. I have been very fortunate to see how much of a rousing success we've become over the past few weeks. And _that_...is all to you," he added, pointing to the crowd.

Gramercy nodded off to his right, where one of the other chefs was busy preparing some of the food. "Do not worry, though! Chef Ariel, who has also been here since the beginning, will be take over executive chef responsibilities. I trust that you will show her the same respect that you have shown me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Chef!" the staff echoed.

"Very well." He waved his hand at the counter in front of him, his chefs placing full plates in front of him. "For the occasion, I have decided to modify the menu a bit. The first course..."

With that came approximately five minutes of Chef Gramercy going over the dishes with a fine-toothed comb. Everyone around Karmi was furiously writing down notes to remember the dishes. Karmi was doing it as well, but being a teen genius and all, she could remember most of it except for the finer details.

As he carried on, her mind started to wonder. The truth was she only wished she could use the police activity as an excuse for her tardiness, but in actuality, she had almost completely forgot about her shift today. Between school, her work with Liv Amara, and her newfound friendship with Hiro's group, her mind was in tatters.

And that wasn't even counting whatever was going on between her and Hiro himself. Every time they got together, it seemed like another crazy moment would occur. Last time, she got thrown into the air as an experiment by him.

And then she almost kissed him.

Again.

...Yeah, it was a bad time for her brain to bring that up.

"Ahem."

Uh oh.

Karmi looked up from her pad to see Chef Gramercy staring at her. "As I am sure Karmi was paying attention, I am also certain that she can review for everyone what tonight's featured entree dish is."

She looked down at her notes. "A filet mignon served with a mushroom gratin, Yukon mashed potatoes, and roasted broccoli, with the meat surrounded by its own au jus." She looked back up at him. "...Chef."

Gramercy didn't blink. Instead, after a moment, he looked up at the rest of the staff. "I sure hope that everyone wrote that down."

There was a flurry of scratches from pens and notepads as everyone else mad a mad dash to put it down. Seemingly satisfied, the celebrity chef pulled up his tablet. "Now, for sections..."

Tonight, Karmi was given a prime section, right in the middle of the restaurant. As servers started filing out to take their place, Gramercy waved her over to the side door.

"Karmi. Two seconds."

Oh boy, this wasn't going to end well.

She followed Gramercy through the door, outside of the restaurant. Once there, he propped the door open with a spare piece of wood. "Remind me that I need to get this door fixed."

"Chef, is there something wrong?" Karmi asked, cutting him off.

"I was just about to ask you the very same question."

"Me?" Karmi was confused. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."

"Karmi." Satisfied with the status of the door, he turned to face her. "You may have been blessed with the ability to multitask, but I have the ability to tell when someone is lying, and you...have been zoned out since you've arrived."

Was it really that obvious? "Chef...I'm sorry that I haven't been around. I've been so busy at school and my internship that I had to cut back my hours here. But I promise you, I'll prove to you that I can be here."

She saw him shake his head slowly, eyes closed.

"Karmi, Karmi, Karmi."

She watched him bend down and put his hands on his knees, now at her level. She braced herself for impact…

"You have been one of the most consistent workers here."

Huh. This didn't sound like a classic Gramercy tirade.

"You take the worst shifts, even work some of the bad sections, and I don't think I've ever heard you complain _once_. As far as I am concerned..."

He looked at her straight in the eye.

"You have nothing to prove."

"...Um..."

"Karmi, I know that you have a very busy life outside of this restaurant. I would not want your work here to intrude on anything you're doing at school or elsewhere. It's actually quite astonishing that you're still working here at all. I've heard a lot of things that you're working on from Chef Cass."

"Oh." Karmi shuffled her feet nervously. "I didn't know you talked to her."

"Well, she made quite an impression on me a bit ago, and I've learned that when she speaks about someone, I should listen." Gramercy crossed his arms over his body. "Look, you are more than welcome to be here as long as you wish to. You've proven to be dependable. I could bloody use ten of you in this restaurant. I'm sure Chef Ariel would be more than happy for you to stay."

She wiped a tear away from her eye, touched. "Thank you, Chef. I really appreciate that. But can I be honest for a second?"

"Certainly."

"I... _really_ thought you were going to yell at me."

"Well, I _have_ been known to do that from time to time. Can't say I blame you there," Gramercy joked, opening the door and waving Karmi back inside. "Don't worry; I'll probably be doing that at some point during service tonight."

* * *

And he did. To be fair, it wasn't her fault.

Tonight was another busy evening at _Gramercy_ , and even though she hadn't been around for a while, the crowd was keeping her on her toes. Two hours in, she already had to deal with an errant child that almost caused her to drop an entire table's worth of food, a trio of uppity gentlemen who left barely enough money for the check (so no tip), a mother with every food allergy under the sun (spoiler: she actually wasn't allergic to anything), and a teenage couple on their first date that spent more time eating each other's face than their entrees.

Karmi managed to walk away just as they got their second wind, the check laying on the table next to them. She only hoped that it would come back not damp.

"Excuse me, miss?"

She turned to the table next to them. An older gentleman was sitting with presumably his wife, a younger couple sitting opposite them. She walked over to them, bending down slightly. "Yes?"

"I know that you're not our waiter, but we ordered our food a while ago, and we haven't seen our server since we've gotten our drinks. We've been waiting very patiently and would like an update as to when we'll get it."

"I'm so sorry about that, sir," Karmi said. "Who _is_ your server?"

"I apologize; I didn't catch his name." He held his hand up, to a little above Karmi's head. "He's about this tall, with brown hair. Quiet fellow."

 _Oh no_ , she thought. She knew exactly who he was talking about, even having been absent for a couple of weeks.

"Sir, I know who that is. I'll see if I can track him down. But in the meantime," she added, pulling out her notepad, "Tell me what you ordered and I will speak to the chef personally."

* * *

_Twenty seconds later..._

"Chef!" Karmi strode into the kitchen, almost knocking over one of the other waitresses going out. "We have a problem!"

Gramercy looked up from the plate he was preparing. "Oh, look. Little Miss Quiet finally found her voice. And she's using it on me. Wonderful."

"Table ten has been waiting for their food for almost forty-five minutes, and they're getting a little impatient. Also, Dante seems to have wandered off again."

"Ten?" He scooted over to the right as he scanned the handwritten tickets on the top of the shelf. "That got sent out twenty minutes ago. Filet mignon and scallops?"

"That was table eleven, which is in my section." Karmi peered at her notepad, reading off the four-top's order. "Ten is the double filet mignon, lobster risotto, and fettuccine alfredo."

Gramercy paused for a moment, staring at a ticket. Slowly, he lifted it and looked underneath...and proceeded to curse up a storm.

"Bloody..." He turned to his sous chefs behind him. "I need a refire on this ticket!"

"Yes, Chef!"

He turned back toward Karmi, raising both of his hands and facing his palms outward. "Ten minutes. Let them know, and I will personally bring out the food with you."

"Ten minutes heard, Chef."

"Oh, and Karmi?"

She was almost at the door when she looked back at him, peering through the counter to look at her. "Yes, Chef?"

"When you find him, let Dante know that I need a word with him. A few, actually."

* * *

The night was over. Finally.

Karmi was sitting outside on the bench, waiting for her ride to show up. The staff had just finished divvying up Dante's tips (which he relinquished when he went MIA in the middle of service). In the end, it turns out he tried to hide in the bathroom to talk to his girlfriend and got lost in a very long conversation with her.

And then Gramercy busted the door down.

...So now, as well as needing a new server, they needed a new bathroom door.

The four-top had taken the entire situation in stride, the old gentleman casually brushing aside Gramercy's apologies with excellent compliments about the food. Karmi had also been given that table's generous tips, so it all ended in her favor.

She pulled her shoe off, rubbing her foot. Most of the staff had already taken off, leaving just Karmi and a few of the cleaning crew. She should have asked if any of them had some baby powder.

Although, being the end of the night, it was probably too late for that.

"Warm water and Epsom salts. Always hits the spot for me."

Karmi looked up to see Chef Gramercy standing next to her, jacket on. "Chef! I thought you left already."

"I have to make sure everything's in order for Chef Ariel to take over," he explained. "Also have a long road trip ahead."

She followed his finger as a large eighteen wheeler rolled up, emblazoned with the chef's face. Karmi peered at the caption next to the picture. "Restaurant Rescue?"

"There's a business in Santa Angeles that needs my help. We're heading straight over there and shooting in the morning. I'll probably be sleeping the entire time."

"On the road?"

"Do enough episodes, and you learn to get rest where you can," Gramercy said, stifling a yawn. "Although after tonight, I may bloody well need a drink to get me through tomorrow."

He wandered off to the side of the building, Karmi cautiously following. He peered around the ground a little bit as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Tell me, Karmi. What would you think of adding an outdoor patio? Four or five tables, maybe a little wooden lattice on the bottom part of the wall? Candlelight for the romantic folk?"

"I think that would be lovely, Chef," Karmi said. "It's a shame that we didn't have that earlier."

"Ahh, yes. The couple in your section?" Seeing her nod, he chuckled. "I saw them for a little bit. Bloody hell. I hope not all American teenagers are like that. Please don't tell me you're like that with your boyfriend."

"I...don't have a boyfriend."

"Hmm." Gramercy looked down at the watched and tapped the face. "Well, when you _do_ get one, do me a favor, yeah? Don't suck his face off like a mosquito at a blood bank."

"I don't think there's any danger of that, Chef."

"Good girl. As for the patio, I'll get my designer on the horn and brainstorm some ideas." He started walking toward the parking lot. "Here, I almost forgot. Follow me, Karmi."

The chef and Karmi made their way to the giant truck, where he turned once he arrived at the door. "I wanted to give you something. A token, so to speak, for all of your hard work."

She watched as he pulled a thin metal card out of his coat pocket. He handed it to her, the steel cool in her hands.

"This...is a pass for an all-exclusive night to here. Once turned in, your entire evening would be paid for by me."

Karmi was floored. "Chef, I can't accept this. This is too much."

"Please. I insist. I do not hand these out very often, and I cannot think of anyone that is as well deserving as yourself."

She gripped it tight in her hands, her tears threatening to come out again. "Thank you, Chef. I don't know what to say."

"Just promise me you'll use that someday soon. Maybe on a day that you can relax and take the night off. Maybe on your family...or someone special." Gramercy winked at her. "We might even have that patio built that you can use."

He extended his hand to her, which she grasped with both of hers. "Best of luck to you, Karmi. I'm sure we'll see each other somewhere down the road. Speaking of which...it's best time that I head that way as well."

He climbed up into the cabin and shut the door, nodding to the driver. Karmi waved him goodbye, which he returned as the truck went onto the road.

Karmi twirled the card between her palms, her brain seemingly rotating with it. A night out, on the house? It almost seemed too good to be true. Now to think about who she could take...

A sudden burst of noise caused her to look up into the sky. The cloud train that was being emitted by the foreign object was heading toward the busier part of the city, no doubt looking for evil-doers and whatnot.

She smiled as her ride pulled up. Yeah, maybe that was another person she could offer, too.

Always best to keep your options open...especially because the superhero above wasn't the first person she thought to ask.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm going to give you guys ten guesses as to who it's going to be, and the first nine don't count. ;)

Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait for that particular story. It'll be a while.

I watch way too much Gordon Ramsay. Blame my sister; she tapes all of his shoes. But it's good that I did; it helps to get into his characters.

Also got to fit as much awkward Karmi/Hiro stuff before Season 2 completely screws it up. I do have a contingency, though. 's called "Deal with it".

My journal over at DeviantArt has some...thoughts about Season 2, and I'm hoping (again) that I don't have to edit too much of my future writings in lieu of what happens in the show. If it does...it does. Nothing I can do.

Oh, and Santa Ana + Los Angeles = Santa Angeles.

Next chapter will not be the last chapter of this story, but it will be the last update before Season 2 starts. Thus, instead of ending the story with him, we're going to put Hiro front and in the center, as well as another Marvel character cameo.

Who could it be? What _is_ Hiro's job? And will Karmi show up?

Guess you'll just have to find out.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	3. Hiro Faces Reality

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. I also do not own any thinly-veiled references to reality shows about races that are amazing._

_Or other Marvel characters._

* * *

_**Chapter 3 – Hiro Faces Reality** _

" _Why is there a group of people aligned on that particular dock?"_

"Just watch, Baymax."

Hiro leaned forward as far as he could muster, locking his body in with his magnetic gloves and knee-pads. Good think the advertising blimp had a metal frame; otherwise he would have ended up in the beach sands below. He tried to shield his eyes from the setting sun as he peered downward. "They're going to start any second."

He watched as the group, separated into pairs, turn their attention to another man standing in front of them. The man's short hair blew in the breeze as he raised his hand in the air. All of the pairs bent down, getting ready to run.

Then, without warning, he brought his hand down, and the duos started sprinting down the length of the dock, making their way to a giant sand sculpture nearby.

"Interesting. They probably have to find their clues in there. Hopefully all of the tourists don't distract them."

" _Is this some sort of game?"_

"Of sorts." Hiro chuckled as one of the people dived headlong into a pile of sand. "Just think bigger, and with more plane trips."

" _Do they have to build one?"  
_

He stood up and brushed the dust off his legs. "If they're lucky, they won't." He climbed up onto the robot's back. "C'mon, let's get back on patrol."

* * *

_A few hours later…_

If you had told Hiro Hamada several months ago that he would be patrolling around the city of San Fransokyo on the back of his brother's health care robot as part of the superhero team Big Hero 6, he would've…

Well, he would've probably just walked by you, ignoring your presence as he continued to daydream about how he could improve his bot in time for the next fight.

But reality was funny that way.

A rampaging fire, a family death, a secret trip to the docks, and the fight of a lifetime later, the reality he thought was going to take place ceased to exist.

Of course, there was a lot of other things that occurred following those events, but each one seemed crazier than the last. Getting accepted to his brother's school, passing his first semester, foiling the plan of a mastermind criminal.

Being a hero…

" _Hiro?"_

The teen genius shook the cobwebs out of his head. "Yeah, bud?"

" _How much longer do we plan on patrolling? If we do not return soon, you will not get the requisite number of hours of sleep to preform in the morning."_

Hiro stifled a yawn, stretching his arms out. "A little longer, Baymax. We'll do one more lap and call it."

All jokes about reality (and watching of reality shows) aside, the night had been pretty uneventful. There was a suspicious pedestrian over by the bank, but it was just another old man yelling at the sky. A quick trip to the shelter solved that problem.

But as night arrived and his patrol continued on, it didn't appear that anything else exciting was going to happen. No matter. He liked patrolling on his own. It let him think about things.

This was his job, after all.

Sure, he was getting to the age where Aunt Cass was going to ask him about job prospects. And yes, he did help his aunt around the Lucky Cat Cafe from time to time. But unlike everyone else, he didn't have a "normal" profession to fall back on.

He knew Go Go had her courier job. Honey Lemon maintained her online store to sell her wares to everyone around the country. Wasabi was at one of the popular sushi stands near the waterfront. Fred...

Well, Fred didn't really _have_ to work. Having buttloads of money makes that situation rather easy. But being the head of a household, going to fancy dinners and banquets, representing the family...that was sort of a job. Heck, even Karmi, as busy as she was with school, still managed to keep down her job at _Gramercy_.

Hiro didn't have that. He had this.

But he didn't see himself making cappuccinos as a career. No offense to his aunt, but he felt he had a higher calling.

" _Hiro, Aunt Cass is calling."  
_

Again with the daydreaming. Hiro tapped the side of his helmet; thankfully, he had set up calls to go to his comm device so he wouldn't have to answer his phone while in mid-flight. "Hello?"

" _Are you still at school, Hiro? You know better than to stay late this often."  
_

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Aunt Cass. I got caught up with stuff."

" _Stuff? You can call Karmi by her actual name, you know."_

"Aunt Cass, she left a while ago." He tapped his helmet again, scanning the calendar that came up. "She's working late-shift at the restaurant tonight."

He could feel her grin coming from over the phone. _"Oh, so you know her schedule now?"_

"I...don't like the tone that you're using."

The silence that followed all but confirmed her teasing. Hiro took the opportunity to speak up. "Look, I'm actually about to head home now. I'll be there soon."

" _Just be careful, OK? You know how weird drivers can be at this time of night."_

"Yes, Wasabi reminds me every day." Hiro rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine."

" _I'll see you when you get home. I love you."  
_

"Love you, too."

Hiro hung up, now feeling a little guilty. He hadn't technically lied to her, but it was getting harder and harder to hide his other life from Aunt Cass. Sooner or later, she was going to find out.

He scanned the ground, lost in this thoughts. If only there was someone else he could talk to. Someone that he knew, but didn't know well. Someone he could confide in.

"Baymax, holding pattern."

He had said it unconsciously, without meaning it. But lo and behold, it turns out he ended up in the most ironic of places.

Only a few of the lights in the restaurant were on, and Bolton Gramercy was busy poking around outside, Karmi on his left. It looks like she had finished up her shift, since she had her belongings with her.

Hiro watched as they made their way over to a giant eighteen-wheeler. He took something out of his coat and handed it to her. Whatever it was, Karmi seemed surprised by it. She took the object, exchanged a quick hug with the chef, and backed up as the truck started to roll out to wherever.

" _Perhaps you would like to go down and talk to her?"_

He shook his head, mind already made up. "Nah, it looks like she's been busy tonight. Her hero showing up would complicate things."

" _But are you not Hiro, Hiro?"_

The boy genius didn't have an answer to that. He knew what Baymax had meant, but looking down at her flip whatever Gramercy had given her in her hands, his follow-up was now lost.

Hiro didn't know how she did it. School. Work. More work. He could barely get through his first semester of college; how was she able to keep going like this?

Heck, maybe the real superhero wasn't him. Maybe it was-

" _Hiro, I am detecting an object emitting an electromagnetic signature heading through the air toward our current location."_

He tore his eyes away from Karmi and scanned the surroundings. "Where it is now?"

" _Two kilometers to the west. It is moving at a rapid pace, and will make contact in approximately three seconds."_

Oh crap.

"Straight up, Baymax!" Hiro slammed his hands into the locks. "Evasive maneuvers!"

Having already activated the thrusters, the two rocketed off into the sky, the object tearing right through the air that they were at mere moments ago.

"What in the world was that?" Hiro yelled. "Baymax, see if you can find out who shot that at us."

Baymax leveled out high in the sky, his visor glowing blue. _"I am not detecting any human anomalies. I do detect a second foreign object."_

THUNK!

The sound of metal on metal came from Baymax's chest, and Hiro peered around his head and found the source of the sound: an arrow was now lodged directly into Baymax's armor, the middle part glowing an eerie green.

" _...Oh."_

Suddenly, the two began dive-bombing downward. Hiro was struggling to hang on even with his magnets. "Baymax! What's happening?"

" _My motor capabilities appear to have been disabled."  
_

"Yeah, I got that!" Hiro tapped his back with his index fingers, lights starting to outline his hands. "Hold on, I'm going to try to steer us down."

It was only then he looked up to see the rooftop. It was way too close. And it was getting way too closer.

But it was his only shot. It was either that or the street, twenty stories down.

WHAM!

The two slammed hard into the industrial building, skidding almost across the entire length of the roof before coming to a stop. Hiro, having been thrown off of Baymax, landed a few feet away.

"...Ow."

" _Are you injured?"_

Hiro stood up, rubbing his behind. "I think my butt's going to be sore for a while, but I think I'm fine." Slowly, he made his way over to Baymax, looking over his armor. "What about you?"

" _My radio communications and motor systems are offline , but my other capabilities appear to still be operational."_

He pulled the arrow out, the middle of the shaft still glowing. "A compartmentalized electromagnetic pulse. Meant to take out certain systems and leave others intact. It's like they didn't want you to...call...anyone..."

And then it hit him.

He slammed his hand into the side of his helmet, opening up the comm link. "Guys, we have a problem! I'm-"

He never got the chance to complete his sentence, because before he knew it, he was thrown off of his feet, slamming into the stairwell wall.

"Ugh!"

Hiro tried to wrestle free, but to no avail. He looked to his sides to see two throwing discs embedded into his undershirt, pinning him to the wall. Worse, it looks like one of them had nicked his helmet's comm, knocking it out of commission.

The sounds of high heels hitting the rooftop made Hiro stop struggling and look up. The billboard lights made it hard to define the new arrival's features, but it definitely didn't seem like someone looking for a friendly conversation.

SHINK!

Oh yeah, and they had a sword, too.

The mysterious figure brought the tip of the blade up to Hiro's neck, who tried to back his head up. Hiro narrowed his eyes, the figure seemingly familiar to him.

"Momakase?"

The person took another step forward, and the light caught her face: it was an older woman, probably in her 30s. Her hair was pure white, reaching to the middle of her back. Her entire suit and body armor was a mix of white and gray, the lights of the billboards shining off of it to great effect. A few belts on her arms and legs had pockets on them. A bandanna of the same gray hue was tied around her forehead, blowing in the slight breeze. The only other skin she was showing was on her shoulders, circular cutouts reaching halfway down to her elbows.

"OK. _Not_ Momakase."

"I do not know who this person you speak of is..." Her accent was very thick, perhaps Russian. Definitely not a native of the city. "But I assure you that they are the least of your concerns right now."

"Oh good." Hiro couldn't believe it. "Another ninja."

"I am _not_ a ninja!" the woman yelled. She drew her sword back, slamming the tip into the wall next to Hiro's ear. She leaned forward into his face. "I am here to-"

"First of all..."

She stopped, feeling too late the weight of Hiro's boots on her chest.

"Back off!"

He slammed them into her body, causing her to stumble backwards. He took the moment to yank as hard as he could on his arms, successfully freeing himself from the wall.

"I don't have a second-of-all," Hiro panted. "Look, I don't know who you are, but my friends are going to be here any second, and-"

"They are not coming, Hiro Hamada."

That stopped him cold, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. "What? Hiro Hamada? You got the wrong...I don't even know who that is."

"You have a brilliant mind, Hiro Hamada. But you are not the only one with intelligence." She got up from the ground, her sword pointing down at her side. "So please do not insult mine."

"...OK." Hiro brought his fists out in front of him. "Let's just say for a second I _am_ him. What of it?"

"I am here to complete my task. I am here...to test you."

"I'm...what?"

"I am here," the woman continued, "To make sure you are ready for what is ahead. There are-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Hiro slapped his hand together into the shape of a T. "Timeout. You couldn't have just said that two minutes ago? You know, instead of _shooting my friend with an arrow!?_ " He held his hand up to his face, cradling it with his helmet. "You couldn't have just called and said 'Hey, I need to talk to this kid about something. When is he available?' Something _normal_?"

"The situation demanded it." The woman brought her sword up in a ready position, and lunged forward. "Now, we begin!"

"...Oh boy."

Hiro ducked, the sword whistling past his head. He jumped to his left, the second swing almost hitting him again.

"You are not facing me in battle, Hiro Hamada!"

"Baymax!" Hiro shouted out, ignoring the woman's shouts. "I could really use your help right now!"

" _My systems are still non-functional."_

"Unbelievable." He jumped up onto a nearby air-conditioning unit, the woman still at his heels. "Anything else you want to tell me?"

" _The weather appears to be partly cloudy, with a thirty percent chance of-"_

"Anything related to _now,_ Baymax!?"

" _All of your systems appear to be fully operational, Hiro,"_ Baymax said. _"Perhaps they could be used to your advantage."  
_

"...Duh! Of course!"

Hiro jumped off the unit, pressing both of his palms to the metal. "Reverse polarity!"

The magnetic force thrusted the metal box out of the ground, sending it careening toward Hiro's attacker. Luckily, it did not appear that she was expecting that.

The box slammed into the woman, sending both to the edge of the rooftop. Satisfied, Hiro dusted off his shoulders…

Only for the sounds of metal being cut to fill the air. The unit fell into pieces, the woman stepping out of the refuse, dusty and disheveled.

Panicked, Hiro looked around for a weapon and only found one thing: a stray two-by-four. He grabbed it with his hand and brought it forward, brandishing it like a sword.

"...That does not seem like a proper weapon for you to use, Hiro Hamada," the woman smirked.

"Can you, like, stop saying my name so much?" Hiro asked. "I _do_ have a secret identity to maintain. Although it's apparently not good enough," he added under his breath.

"It hardly seems fitting for us to be fighting with you at such a large disadvantage. Here." She turned her sword blade down and stuck it into the roof. "We shall fight hand-to-hand."

"Oh, goody. Wonderful," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Both of them adopted a fighting stance, the wind starting to pick up between the two. For a moment, neither of them moved.

It was the mysterious woman who moved first, closing the distance in a blink of an eye. She thrust her palm out, hitting Hiro square in the chest.

"Gah!"

He stumbled backwards as he struggled to retain his balance. He looked up to see the woman smirking, her hand out and her fingers beckoning him forward.

Hiro yelled as he ran at her. The woman crossed her arms to defend, but Hiro feigned, throwing his leg around to try to knock her off balance...but his boot stopped as soon as he made contact, failing to do anything.

Both Hiro and the woman looked at the leg, confused. After a second, he looked up and sheepishly grinned.

"Uh...sweep the leg?"

A few _more_ seconds later, he was sent flying across the roof, rolling to a stop back near Baymax.

"Ow...again."

" _Are you in pain?"_

"Yeah, clearly."

" _One a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_

Hiro ignored the question, standing up slowly. "Baymax, activate it. I don't have a choice."

" _Hiro, the newest iteration of your project has not been properly tested,"_ Baymax said. _"It still required a minimum of ten hours of-."_

"Yeah, well...no better time than the present, right?"

" _Rah!"_

Hiro's head snapped up as the woman came out of the shadows. She threw her fist forward, ready to connect with his face.

"Baymax! Fifty percent! Now!"

WHAM!

The fist came in contact with Hiro's open palm, bringing it to a screeching halt.

"What? How did you-"

Hiro glanced around their grasp, the circuitry of the Nano-Dex underneath his armor glowing purple. "Who's at the disadvantage now?" With that, he grabbed her arm with his other hand, turning his body and throwing her across the roof.

Unfortunately, she was able to right herself in the air, landing on her feet at the other edge. She turned to face him, her face flushed from the activity. "Tell me something...do you believe that everyone else on your team would put up this much of a fight?"

"Yes," Hiro affirmed. "And then some."

"What about that girl?"

Hiro narrowed his eyes. "...What girl?"

"The one you were looking at before I caught your attention. She is not a part of your team, and yet..." She started to step forward, an evil grin on her face. "She seems just as important as them."

"Shut up."

"Oh?"

Hiro's ears began to ring. "Stay away from her."

The smile went even wider. "It appears that I have struck more than just your robot. I appeared to have also struck...a nerve." She turned her body away from him, peering over the edge of the roof. "Perhaps I should introduce myself to her."

"Baymax," Hiro said through gritted teeth. "One hundred percent. Do it."

" _Hiro, I am not capable of increasing your output past seventy-five percent on my own. Any percentage higher requires a passcode authorization."_

The teen genius straightened up, fists at the ready. "Baymax, increase output to maximum. Voice authorization..."

He looked up at the woman, fury in his eyes.

"...Captain Cutie."

" _Passcode accepted. Capacity maxed."_

The woman's eyes widened as the Nano-Dex began to glow even brighter, the raw energy felt by even her. "Very well, Hiro Hamada. It appears that you are finally ready to fight. But tell me this." She readied herself as Hiro came barreling forward, fist cocked back. "What good is a weapon..."

She sidestepped him and the fist went whizzing by. She used his momentum to hurl him away, yelling after him.

"When you don't even know how to _use it!?"_

She picked up her sword from the ground and sheathed it, walking along the large ditch that his body had made, leading to an exhausted Hiro. Bits of stone and the metal air ducts destroyed by his body were around him, sparks flying from the deactivated tech. She reached down to grab him, brushing aside Hiro's attempts to stop her. He managed to grab her shoulder once, but she easily swatted it away.

"You are a noble person, Hiro Hamada. You chose not to fight unless forced to, but when you do, you fight with purpose. That is very honorable of you." She brought him up to a kneeling position. "But I am afraid that the results of this test are undeniable. Hiro Hamada...you have fa-"

She stopped mid-sentence, confused. Hiro didn't look up, although he was hoping that what he did would work.

"Wha..." She fell to her knees, throwing her arms forward to try to stay up. "What have you done to me? You did not hit me with anything. My body..."

Hiro craned his neck to look up at her. Grinning, he silently tapped his upper arm.

The woman, surprised, looked to her left to see the problem: a small, circular piece of circuitry had been placed on the bare patch of skin on her shoulder. Whatever it was, it was numbing every single part of her body, to the point where she couldn't move at all.

"Extra-dermal...nanoreceptor."

She was able to lift her head to a panting Hiro, who had a huge grin on his face. "She added a numbing agent. You can thank _that girl_ for that."

The woman smirked, despite not being able to move the rest of her body. "Impressive. Leading me into a false sense of security so I may be neutralized. Pretending to lash out in rage to get me up close. A brilliant tactic."

"Yeah...tactic." He shakily got up to his feet, bracing himself on the wall with his hand. "We'll go with that."

He stood over her and leaned his head down, his face now serious. "I want answers. And I want them _now._ "

"You have won. I will provide you will all the answers I can give."

"Good." He bent down, and with a swipe, tore off the nanoreceptor.

"What are you-"

"You said you were testing me, right?" Hiro said, returning the device to the indention in his glove. "I could tell. You were pulling your punches. Leaving enough space for your sword slashes to miss. If you wanted me dead, or wanted to destroy Baymax, you could have. _Easily_. But you didn't. You _were_ telling the truth."

The woman got up to one knee, the feeling returning to her body. "You are wise beyond your years, Hiro Hamada. You are everything that this city has said about you. I hope that the rest of your team shares those same qualities."

" _The_ team," Hiro corrected. "They're not _my_ team. But enough about that." He bent further down to look at her. "You know what else I am besides wise and honorable and all that jazz?"

"What?"

Hiro's smile grew wider. "Freaking hungry."

* * *

If you had told Hiro Hamada months ago that he would be a superhero, he would've walked away. If you had told him he would be having Yaki Taco on a demolished rooftop with a ninja/mercenary woman who was beating him up just moments ago...

I...don't actually know.

I got nothing.

"Here."

The woman took the container out of his hand, opening it up. "We do not have anything like this where I am from. This seems...interesting."

"It's...literally just a taco." Hiro unwrapped his own food. "You're not really missing-"

Hearing noises from his side, he turned to the woman, who had demolished the entire taco in one bite.

" _Aaaand_ you ate the whole thing."

She licked her fingers with gusto as she got up off of the ledge. "I must remember to return someday for this delicious delicacy."

Hiro shook his head, not even bothering to roll his eyes. "You said that you came here to test me."

"I was."

"And I passed?"

"You have."

Hiro swallowed a bite of his taco. "Who sent you?"

The woman hesitated, her sword back in her hands. She started sharpening it with a stone from one of her pockets. "I sent myself."

"How'd you get here? Plane? You don't sound like you're from around here. You got through security with that thing?" he quipped, pointing to the blade.

"You are being silly, Hiro Hamada. I came on my own plane."

"Wait, what?" Hearing no response, Hiro crammed the rest of the taco in his mouth, handing the trash off to a now-fully operational Baymax. "Who _are_ you?"

"Who I am is not important."

"Now hang on a second." He pointed a gloved finger at him. "You said you would answer my questions."

"And I have." She looked up to face him. "And you will learn who I am in due time. However, you must know that I not only came to your city to test you...I came to _warn_ you."

"From what?"

She stopped her sharpening, deep in thought. "The actions that you and your team took during the attempted recreation of the Great Catastrophe were noble. They were what a true hero would do. Your actions also have caused a great many amount of people outside of your city to pay closer attention. Most of those people have good intentions. Some...do not."

Hiro frowned. "And they might do something worse?"

"Perhaps. There is also the matter of the people _inside_ your city."

"You mean like Yama?"

The woman chuckled. "I assume you are talking about some small time crook?" Seeing his nod, she shrugged. "I am not."

She sheathed her sword and faced him again. "The world is watching, with your city as its stage. There are great dangers out there, Hiro Hamada. You do not know of them yet. All that matters is you know what to do when they come. I have seen first-hand what these dangers can do when left unchecked. Meeting you and seeing you fight...I am now confident you and your team can handle whatever comes your way."

"You keep saying _my_ team."

"It is because they are. They look to you for guidance, for explanation. Whether you believe yourself it or not...you _are_ their leader."

"Great." Hiro sighed. "Any more pressure you want to put on me?"

"Not at this time." The woman stepped toward the two. "My business is finished. This is the part where I must take my leave. But first..."

She reached into one of her waist pockets and pulled out something, handing it to Hiro. He looked into his hand and examined it. It looked remarkably similar to what Karmi was given: a thin metal sheet, about the size of a business card. Unlike Karmi's card, however, it had no other identifying marks on it.

"This isn't going to blow up when I get back home, will it?"

"It will not." She glanced up at Baymax. "Have your companion scan it if you are not satisfied. In fact, I insist."

He handed it off to Baymax, nodding to him. The robot started his scan as he turned back to the woman. "You know, you never answered my question before. Who are you? I don't even know your name. You know mine. That doesn't seem fair, right?"

She stared at him for a long moment. He tensed up, waiting for perhaps another fist...

And then she offered her arm out to him.

"I am...an ally. One that I pray you will not need...but one that will be by your side if necessary."

He looked down and grasped her wrist, locking their arms together. "Thanks."

"The pleasure has been mine, Hiro Hamada." She let go of his arm, making her way to the edge of the roof.

"You know, you should try calling next time. That's what normal people do. Not shooting arrows at them."

The woman turned back to him, her feet on the upper ledge. "I will keep that in mind."

Hiro _did_ rolled his eyes this time, turning his attention back to Baymax.

"Since you are finished with your questions, may I ask a question of my own?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"What is the reason that you have not told her yet?"

He raised his eyebrow at her. "I...don't follow."

"Hiro Hamada..." The woman stood with her arms crossed. "The vigor that you came at me with after I mentioned that girl-"

"Karmi."

She tilted her head slightly, stopping her speech.

Hiro straightened up, his voice firm. "Her name is Karmi. And you should remember it."

"...Forgive me. Karmi," she said, smiling. "The vigor that arose when I mentioned her is not something that is artificial. It is...genuine. I can see it in your eyes. Sense it in your heart. It is something that is all too rare in this world. Treasure it. Keep it safe. It will reward you when the time is right."

She spread her arms out wide. "I wish you the best of evenings, Hiro Hamada. Perhaps we will meet again under better circumstances."

And then she fell back.

"Wait!" Hiro ran to the edge and looked over.

Nothing. Just an empty street and bright lights. No sign of the woman.

Hiro sighed, resting his forehead on the ledge. "Great. Now I'm getting relationship advice from ninja women. Guess I can scratch that off the list."

" _Hiro, I have completed the analysis on the object."_

Taking one last glance over the edge, he walked back over to the robot, the small slab of metal in his hands. Under the light of Baymax's eyes, he could now make out three capital letters engraved into the metal: SSI.

"I can't even begin to think about what that means. Is there anything dangerous in it?"

" _There is not."_

He opened the digital window on Baymax's chest. "What's the composition of it?"

" _Five percent of the object's chemical analysis consists of an alloy of bronze, zinc, and silicon, tempered to strengthen the structural integrity of the object. The other 95 percent is entirely of one other element."_

Hiro scrolled to the right, the two letters zooming in from the periodic table. He turned back to where the mysterious woman leapt from the roof, then back at the card in the robot's hand.

After a moment, he looked back up at Baymax's screen…

**Ag.**

"...Silver."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm very tempted to see at what point people figured out who the cameo was.

This chapter was originally suppose to be the final one in this story, but due to the season starting next week, I wanted to get this out now. Sets things up rather nicely for the new season. It also give Hiro a chance to be a little badass.

I didn't really want to bring Silver Samurai (the original leader of BH6 in the comics) into the story, just because I didn't think I could make him fit properly. But, I began to think of other "Silver" characters I could have come in, and she came up. Just...imagine she has a Russian accent (or whatever Symkarian accents sound like). Not going to bother replacing W's with V's and whatnot.

Don't worry; she _will_ show up in a future story...sort of.

I also love the fact that for all of the action in this story, I'm still throwing Hiro/Karmi stuff out there. It's so obvious even Silver Sable sees it.

Chapter 4 will deal with the member of Big Hero 6 that desperately needs an actual episode starring him: Wasabi. What will he deal with? Will there be another cameo in the story?

...Well, of course. But the question is...is it a _Marvel_ one? Hmmm...

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	4. Wasabi's On A Roll

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. The new character is here is not._

_**Disclaimer #2:** Just as a reminder, this set of stories takes place **before** Season 2. So remember that as you're reading this._

* * *

_**Chapter 4 – Wasabi's On A Roll** _

" _How is everything? Have you had a lot of customers today?"_

"Everything is fine, Mr. Furakawa. It's been that way since you called ten minutes ago."

" _I don't hear a lot happening in the background. Are you busy?"_

Wasabi took a slow scan around the venue. Every single one of the four booths had people in them. Heck, even the two outside ones were occupied. There wasn't even anyone in line. "Everyone is fed and happy, sir. You have nothing to worry about."

" _I see."_ His voice grew quiet over the phone. _"But you let me know if anything happens, OK? I have to go."_

He hung up on Wasabi, the dial tone loud in his ear.

Yeah, this passed as a normal shift when it came to his job: manning Furakawa's Sushi down by the docks.

Typically, he and the owner would be here together, Wasabi making the food and Mr. Furakawa playing showman with everyone that came into the tiny place. On this day, however, the owner was off somewhere else. He had _said_ that he was going to head down to the fish market to see a man about the catch of the day; Wasabi wasn't well versed on the market, but even he knew that it didn't take three hours to go ten minutes down the road.

But he didn't really mind that much. He kind of liked being alone; the forced social interaction helped him come out of his shell, and it didn't have to come at the expense of the owner breathing down his neck.

Er…back. He was barely taller than Go Go, a fact that she reminded him of every single time she stopped by while he was at work.

The phone rang again, and Wasabi was quick to answer it. "Hello?"

" _Why do you not answer the phone the way I taught you to?"_

"...Because I knew it was you calling?"

The man paused, the background noise growing louder. _"I'll be out for the rest of the night. You remember where the key to lock up is, right?"  
_

"Yes, Mr. Furakawa. I've done it before."

" _Good, good. Then I will see you on Friday."_ Without waiting for a response, he got off the line.

Wasabi put the phone on the cradle, shaking his head. Part of the reason why he was even working there to begin with was because he had been approached by Mr. Furakawa during Fred's adventure with his giant mech. The owner had needed someone to train; Wasabi had needed money. The conversation was quick, and before he knew it, he found himself in the kitchen learning the menu inside out.

And now here he was. Manning a restaurant while the owner was out doing...whatever.

But hey, he _could_ be out on patrol with everyone else. He'd take serving sushi to customers over clinging to Baymax's arm while flying over the city any day of the week.

The next hour was quiet, the patrons coming in and out at a declining pace. Eventually, Wasabi found himself alone, clearing off the last of the booths. It looked like it would be another slow evening…

"Fancy meeting you here."

He looked up from wiping down the table to see a familiar, suit-wearing CEO standing in front of him. "Mr. Krei? What are you doing here?"

"If you must know, Bobbie..."

"Wasabi."

"Whatever." Krei started tapping away at his phone. "I found myself in the harbor on my boat, as one does...and I was hungry. I went to call my personal sushi chef, and then I remembered that my personal sushi chef was an assassin ninja mercenary sent to steal a bunch of prototypes from my company!"

"Sooo...you decided to come here?"

"No. I was peddling with the fishmongers up near my dock and for _some reason_ they didn't want to give me anything. _Then_ I came here."

Wasabi made his way back around behind the food counter. "What can I get you?"

"Hmm." Krei leaned over the counter, getting unnecessarily close to the glass window blocking his workstation. "Get me one of those California rolls. Oooh, and maybe some tempura. And also the tuna otoro temaki."

"I can also dive into the bay and grab it for you, if you want."

"Excellent." The CEO took a seat at the booth he just cleaned. "I will be waiting."

Wasabi made a motion to say that he wouldn't dive into the water because he was scared to go down there, but thought better of it.

It took about five minutes, but Wasabi had gathered everything everything that Krei had wanted. He had to get the tempura made fresh, and pull some new tuna from the cooler, but finally, the food was set down in front of him, complete with a small glass ramekin for his favorite dipping liquid.

"Because I know how much you love soy sauce, Mr. Krei."

He looked at Wasabi curiously. "That woman told you that, didn't she?"

"I don't know what she was more upset about: the fact that she got caught and is now in jail or that you try to bring the fish back to life by drowning it again."

Krei picked up one of the California segments, examining it closely. "Yes, well. She's in prison and I'm enjoying sushi, so who got the better end of that deal?"

"Unless she breaks out, and comes after you."

"Thank you for jinxing me, Watanabe."

"It's—Ugh. Whatever."

Wasabi returned to his station, leaving Krei to his dinner. He started to clean the entirety of his station; it would soon be closing time, and Mr. Furakawa was very particular when it came to shutting down the restaurant. All he had to do was get Krei out of there. He hadn't had _much_ experience with the CEO, but from what Hiro had told him, he didn't seem like the kind of person that knew when to leave.

But he checked back over after a couple of minutes, and Krei's entire plate was clear.

As was the soy sauce bottle.

That was full when he sat down.

"I guess you _do_ enjoy your soy sauce."

"Yup. It's quite addicting. But tell anyone, and I'll buy this place off of the owner's hands and turn it into a soy factory."

Krei got up from the table, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "That was excellent. I must remember this place. What was the name again?" He craned his neck out the door to look at the sign above. "Furakawa's. Good to know." He pulled out a bunch of bills and handed them to Wasabi. "I think that'll cover everything. You do delivery?"

"You'd have to talk to the owner."

"Here. I'll leave my number." He jotted his digits down on a spare napkin and handed it to Wasabi. "Have his people call my people, and I'm sure we can set up something."

"I...don't think he has people. _I'm_ his people."

"Well, that will make it easy, then." Krei made his way to the door. "Now, I heard that it was suppose to storm this evening. Hopefully I can get back to my house before-"

He opened the door, and he was greeted by a torrential downpour. Wasabi didn't even know when it had started, but it was sure coming down now. Krei glanced back at Wasabi, who merely shrugged.

"Hey, I didn't jinx you this time. You did."

"Fair enough." The CEO said as his limo rolled up. He glanced to his right and plucked one of the full soy sauce bottles off of the table. "For the road, of course."

Wasabi could only shake his head in amusement as Krei stepped out into the rain, as well as into the largest puddle known to mankind. Soaked to the bone immediately, he jumped into his car and sped off.

He took a glance at his phone. Yup, almost closing time. It was rather unlikely that anyone else was going to show up in this weather.

Wasabi noticed that the sliding door was still open, no doubt from Krei's hasty exit. Some of the rain was also beginning to seep inside. _Great,_ he thought. _More work for me. Thanks, Mr. Krei_. He walked over to the door, ready to close it…

"Heads up!"

A blurry mass came through the door, almost knocking Wasabi off of his feet. Said mass skidded to a stop right in front of the counter.

"Man, that storm just snuck up out of nowhere, didn't it?"

He pushed the door shut as he turned toward the new arrival. "Hey, you all right? You almost took me-"

The person's jacket had been covering their head, so he hadn't been able to see who had come barreling through the door. But now that the person had returned the jacket to its normal position on her back, he could see her properly.

"Out..."

Her bluish-black hair fell down a little past her shoulders. It was still a little damp from the outside, so she started twirling it in her hands to try to get the excess water off. The short jacket was a light blue, adorned with some fancy lettering he couldn't make out. Underneath, she was wearing a light green tank top and blue jeans, a pair of white flip-flops squishing underneath her feet. Her dark skin tone was a perfect compliment to her entire outfit.

And Wasabi couldn't stop staring at her.

"You OK there, bud?" The girl, finished with her hair, turned to face him. "I know that I blew in here without any warning, but I was-"

She stopped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh God. You were about to close, weren't you? I was just trying to take cover and...I'm so sorry. I'll just get out of here and take my chances with the storm."

Wasabi recovered just in time to block her off of the door. "No no no. That's...fine. It looks pretty bad out there, anyway."

"Such a gentlemen, for someone I literally fell into thirty seconds ago. You have a name, Mr…?"

"Wasabi," he said automatically.

"Mr. Wasabi. OK." She scanned around the room, taking note of her surroundings. "Then I guess it's a good thing you work in a sushi place, huh?"

"No! It's a...nickname. My friend gave it to me in school, and it's just kind of stuck since."

"Why? Are you only good in small doses, or else you'll overpower everything?"

Wasabi didn't respond as he attempted to think of something witty to retort. Thankfully, the girl let up, playfully pushing her shoulder into his arm. "Dude, I'm just joking. Lighten up. I appreciate the shelter from the storm. I really do."

She took her jacket off, tossing it into the nearest booth. "So, how are you going to entertain me for however long I'm here?"

"I don't know." He was still a little surprised at how this conversation was going. A pleasant surprised, but a surprised nonetheless. "Are you hungry or anything?"

"And if I was?"

"I could feed you. And you can give me money for the feeding. Because that's how goods and services work."

"OK, I haven't been back in the city _that_ long," she said. "But I think I know how that works, thanks."

Wasabi suddenly remembered that he had cleaned up the counters, taking everything back to the coolers in preparation for closing. "Well, we have a lovely menu right here (pointing to the chalkboard above him). Why don't you pick something and I can get it out?"

He thought that she would take a few moments to look over the menu on the overhead board. Instead, the girl looked at him straight in the eye, a twinkle forming in her own.

"You know what, Mr. Wasabi?" She turned and sat down at the booth with her jacket, her gaze not leaving his. "...Surprise me."

"I don't normally do requests."

"Would you do one for little ol' me?" she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

...OK, _that_ did it. He cracked his knuckles and ducked down underneath the counter. "You asked for it, mystery girl. Prepare to be amazed."

"Oh, I'm preparing."

Wasabi unfurled his knife roll, the graphene shining in the overhead light. He pulled out some ingredients and got to work. For the next few minutes, the only sounds being made were the knives cutting through the fish and pieces to his masterpiece.

"Ooooh! Shiny!"

And now the girl was out of her seat, staring down at the blue clear knife Wasabi was currently holding.

"Is that graphene? How is it not slicing through literally everything?"

Wasabi raised the blade up to eye-level. "It's not because I got it tempered. It's still really sharp, and you don't want to put your fingers near it, but it gets the job done without the collateral damage. I didn't realize you know a lot about graphene."

"I don't. Not really."

"Oh."

The girl smile grew wider. "But I _do_ know about graphene oxide."

Wasabi raised an eyebrow at her.

"And how it's impermeable to all liquids unless you form a capillary membrane so it can go through it as if the blade wasn't even there."

The other one went up.

"And how it can be used for water purification films that are solar powered."

Content with Wasabi's now shocked face, she walked back over to her seat, stealing a glance over her shoulder. "And you thought I was just a dumb girl."

"I didn't think that."

"I can feel you judging me all the way from over here," the girl said as she sat down again. "Don't worry, I'm used to it."

A few moments later, Wasabi was done. He picked up the tray and walked over to the booth, setting it down in front of her. "I present to you...the Wasabi Roll."

The girl took a quick glance over her offering. "I see shrimp, avocado, some cucumber, and...is that wasabi layered underneath the nori?"

"Just a little bit. Mixed with soy sauce and pepper flakes to bright some other flavors."

"Wow, all of this just for me? I'm flattered." She reached over and grabbed a pair of chopsticks, freeing them from the wrapper. "You really know how to go all out? Your girlfriend must be so impressed with your cooking."

Hearing no response, she looked up at him and saw his face. "Oh, drat. I did it again, didn't I? I keep telling myself to reel back on the personal questions, and I never listen to myself."

She had one chopstick in either hand, trying to lift a segment of the roll to her mouth. She saw Wasabi chuckling across from her, having taken the opposite seat in the booth. "You're judging me again! And this time I can see it!"

"Have you never had sushi before?"

"Look, I study marine habitats. I don't normally _eat_ what's in those habitats!"

Wasabi sighed as he took his own set of sticks. "Have you been living under a rock?"

The girl stared at him for a long moment, a small smile on her face. "Nah. Just the water."

"What?"

"Hey, how are you suppose to hold these darn things?"

Wasabi looked up to see the chopsticks sticking out of her fingers, almost like a claw. "Not like that." He held his up for her to see. "Hold the first one like a pencil, and the second one against the base of your thumb and your ring finger."

She adjusted the sticks in her hand and tried it again, succeeding in snagging a piece of sushi. The girl took a small bite and leaned back. "Oh wow. This is good. I should eat sushi more often...but only if you make it."

He took a segment himself, growing ever curious. "So...how long have you been in town? Because you're clearly not from here."

"I actually am." She finished the rest of her piece. "It's been a _looong_ time since I've been back here, though. Everything's changed so much. I've only been back for a couple of days, but...it's so foreign to me now."

"Why are you here, then?"

"Man, you are just giving me the third-degree, huh?" she chuckled. "Can't tell ya. Super secret business and what-not. Only thing I can tell you is that I work for my dad's company. We might be doing some work out in the ocean and surrounding waters, including the bay." She brought her hands up above her head, simulating an explosion. "It turns out when someone tries to blow up San Fransokyo, no one cares to think about what will happen to the life in the water."

Wasabi paused, his chopsticks hanging in the air. Was she talking about…?

"But I've said too much. Man, you got me rolling there for a minute. Is that the food talking? Probably the food talking."

Before they knew it, the plate was empty, and the two made small talk for a little bit as the rain died down. It was mostly banter, until they got to a particular...touchy topic of hers.

"Hey, not everyone can be six feet tall like you. Some of us have to represent for the short crowd."

"Six-feet-four, but yeah." Wasabi looked her up and down. "You have a small everything."

She stood up in a huff, straightening to her full height. "I'm five-foot-six, and proud of it!"

He stood up himself as he pat her on the head. "Yeah. Next you're going to tell me you're also twenty-one like me."

Hearing no response, he looked down at her, her face changing to a surprised look. "Umm...I'll turn twenty-one next month," she said. "And I'm finishing up my last class online, so I'll graduate early from college."

"Congrats. That's a big deal." Wasabi started re-cleaning his station behind the counter. "I wish I could graduate SFIT early."

"Oh my God! You go to SFIT? That's so cool!" The girl stuck her hands on the glass window display. "I wanted to get accepted, but then I found out there's not really a marine biology focus there. But still...the prestige. You must get _all_ the girls." She clapped a hand over her mouth again as Wasabi's face went red. "Yup, did it again. Stupid me."

"It's a very good thing my friends aren't here with me." Wasabi closed the door to the cooler. "Or else they'd probably be laughing up a storm right now. Or maybe just Go Go."

The girl tilted her head at him. "Man, you have some weird named friends. Can I have a weird name?"

"I don't even know your _real_ name. How am I suppose to give you a nickname?"

"I don't know, Mr. Wasabi. Figure something out. Like...Water Girl. Or...Water Woman."

Wasabi chuckled to himself. "Yeah, leave the nicknaming to Fred. I'm sure he'll come up with something."

She looked out the window, noticing the weather. "Looks like it's cleared up enough for me to head back to my hotel room." As she put her jacket back on, she pulled out a few bills and placed them on the counter. "Thank you for the food, Mr. Wasabi...and the hospitality. Maybe I'll see you around again before I leave."

As she made her way over to the door, Wasabi called out to her. "You do know that's not my real name, right?"

Her head turned back as her hand came on the handle. "What _is_ your real name?"

"What's _yours?_ "

The two stared at each other for a long while. The girl was the first to blink, her smirk reappearing. "I guess we'll just have to leave that for next time," she whispered.

She opened the door to the outside. The rain was still falling, but nowhere near at the rate it was during the storm. "You'll be OK out there?" Wasabi called out to her. "It could get worse in a hurry."

"Nah, I think I'll be fine." She looked at him again, her blue eyes seemingly glowing even brighter. "Thanks for your concern, though."

The girl stepped out and shut the door behind her. Curious, Wasabi walked around to one of the windows, taking a peek outside.

She was now on the other side of the street, taking a long look at the waterfront. One of her hands was palm up, held right above her head.

And he wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, or just his eyes being tired, but...it seemed like the weather was bending to her will, every single water droplet curving around and missing her body, almost as if she was-

Nah. That was impossible.

...Right?

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Coming up with character traits for new people showing up in these stories is really difficult. You don't want to duplicate anyone already in the show, but you still want to make them somewhat relatable to the universe. That's the struggle when you have to integrate a new character into this universe.

Oh yeah, the new character? Let's see if people can figure it out.

Recap/Summary: she is a character that has an origin in comics. She is _not_ a Marvel character. She apparently also doesn't know personal boundaries.

Or irony. Or how to use chopsticks. Trust me, there's a _reason_ for that.

Mister and Misses, you _could_ know her. I've given you all of the clues.

(Don't watch _The Snowman_. It's a terrible, terrible movie.)

Thankfully, unlike Silver Sable, you guys will hopefully only have to wait about two weeks for her to make a reappearance. She will be in the next story, once this one is done.

Speaking of done, Honey Lemon & Fred still need their highlight. Let's see if we can't give it to them, huh? The finale will be next week.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	5. Honey Lemon & Fred Are In The Market

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. Remember, this story takes place **before** Season 2, so no passing mention of Liv Amara will be appearing here._

* * *

_**Chapter 5 – Honey Lemon & Fred Are In The Market** _

"So which one do you like more?"

Honey Lemon held up her arms, each fabric draped over her wrists. "This one (nodding to her right) is a little bit more durable, but it doesn't come in the color you requested. I can probably dye it darker to match this one (nodding to her left), but it'll take a little bit longer."

" _Oh my goodness, I love that one! It's going to look great on me; I can already tell!"_

The Latina bundled up the fabric, tossing it onto the table. "That's settled then. This mascot costume is going to be the best. It'll be so cute!"

" _I'm just glad that my bosses said OK to the costume. Yggdrasil can be a little stingy when it comes to this sort of thing."  
_

Honey Lemon was interrupted by a text coming onto her cell. She looked down at her phone, noticing who it was. "Sorry, I have to go. I'll give you an update on my progress in a couple of days, OK?"

" _Sounds good! Talk to ya later!"_

"Bye, Doreen!"

She ended the video call on her laptop and got up from the table. Fred was going to be here soon with food, so best to make sure the apartment door was unlocked.

It was always great to have someone enthusiastic to talk to when it came to arts and crafts. That's why she liked her online boutique so much: an opportunity to reach out to the masses and make things for them.

The money didn't hurt either.

The time was the problem.

Since being a superhero and a student at SFIT took up the vast majority of her time, she severely had to limit the amount of side projects she could take at her store. She still sold stickers by the dozen and other small tchotchkes here and there. The Big Hero 6 trinkets were a particularly good seller (and she suspected that a certain bio-tech genius was one of her frequent buyers), but her custom clothing options were limited. But now with Obake gone, and a drop in active crime, she opened her store e-mail for the first time in a while and found a very excited person seeking someone to make her a costume.

It was from a girl who worked for the local wildlife refuge, and she was looking for someone to get her some materials for a suit she wanted to make. She also gushed on and on about her other stuff for...

Honey Lemon glanced back at her laptop, checking the length again.

...Four pages.

She was a very enthusiastic girl, OK?

The Latina had sent an e-mail to set up a meeting, and over the past couple of weeks, had been corresponding back and forth. The girl was very...forward. And excitable. And hyper. And other adjectives that were similar to that.

But it was nice to see the passion. It was something that she missed seeing.

A knock came from the door, her attention now broken by it. She hadn't realized he would be here so soon.

"It's open!"

A loud thunk came from the other side. No doubt he was having trouble opening the door.

"Hold on! I'm coming."

Honey Lemon strode quickly over to the door and opened it. On the other side was Fred, his arms full of bags of food.

"Delivery man is here!"

She stepped out of the way as he came into the apartment. Through the crowd of white paper bags, his arm thrusted out in her direction with a black one. "I got your _Ensalada Trabaja_ right here. Nicoise salad with a side of something that I'm not even going to try to pronounce."

"Thank you, Freddie," Honey Lemon said, taking the bag from him. "And it's _pipirrana._ "

"I was going to say 'pepperoni', so thanks for the save." Fred walked off to the beanbag chair over by her desk and threw himself down, now semi-buried underneath his food. "I'll be over here if you need anything."

She took her bag back over to the table, setting it down to grab a fork from the drawer. "I'll let you eat first, but when you get a chance, can you go into the closet and grab my sewing machine? I'm going to try to work on some embroidery today for this costume."

"I'll just grab it now." He got up and walked over to the back door. "Trust me, you don't want these taco hands all over that thing."

Honey Lemon starting mixing her food together, turning her head back toward him. "Yeah, my _abuela_ would be very upset if you damaged 'that thing'. So please be careful with it, OK?"

She watched as Fred's body careened back out of the closet, holding a very old sewing machine in his arms. He shimmied over to the table, panting heavily. "Where...do you...want this?"

"Right here." She grabbed her laptop and food to make way for his thunderous entrance to the coffee table, the legs creaking underneath the added weight. "I think that's all I need for know. Thanks, Freddie."

Honey Lemon watched him walk back to his beanbag chair, only breaking her gaze once he had flopped back down. It was almost a miracle that one of his chairs was even here at all; Go Go had been very adamant against the addition, but she and Fred had tag-teamed her into relenting. One, they didn't have anything over at that part of the apartment. Two, it fit with the aesthetic of the room.

Three, she put on the puppy-dog eyes. And not even Go Go couldn't resist the puppy-dog eyes.

He had wanted it there so he had someplace to sit when he was visiting. Honey Lemon appreciated the gesture; it was a sign of how close they had become.

Fred was a very...interesting person. He had bestowed her nickname almost immediately upon meeting her right before her first class at SFIT. Granted, he gave nicknames to several people, but the gesture was a kind one to someone overwhelmed with everything happening at the Institute.

Honey Lemon started her seam, thinking back to that day. Orientation went rather smoothly after her impromptu meeting with Fred and the subsequent meeting of the other newcomers, including Go Go, Wasabi, and Tadashi.

Her foot lifted off of the pedal, slowing down the movement of the needle. Her mind was starting to wander to that last person. She had gotten better over time with his passing, no thanks to keeping busy with school and heroics. But every once in a while, he would make his way back into her mind. Go Go tried her best to help her, but she just couldn't relate to her predicament.

No one could.

Honey Lemon stabbed her phone with her finger, desperately trying to get to her Music app. She had to distract herself. "Freddie, do you mind if I put on some music?"

"It's fine with me." Fred replied. "I'm just catching up on Captain Fancy over here."

She looked up from her phone to see Fred in his cushion, a stack of comics in front of him. The Yaki Taco bags were nowhere in sight. "What happened to your food?"

"I ate it?"

"Oh." Clearly she hadn't been paying attention. "OK."

"Did you want any of it?"

"Oh no!" She glanced down at her barely eaten salad. "I'm fine. I have my stuff here."

The music now at an acceptable level, Honey Lemon went back to her stitching. She managed to get through all of the material for the sleeves before she started hearing giggling coming from the other end of the room.

"What's so funny over there?"

Fred looked up as he finished his chuckling. "Captain Fancy is getting his butt kicked by this new guy! They gave him all of the good puns!"

Honey Lemon smiled. "Wanna show it to me? I could use some cheering up!"

Fred was already halfway across the room by the time she finished her statement. Her grin grew wider as he went into a long-winded explanation of comic physics, Captain Fancy, and a bunch of other things that she couldn't follow. She didn't really care though; hearing him speak passionately about something was exactly what she needed to distract her.

"And then he shows up on page 27 again, for a final confrontation with our hero. Look, Dohertz even makes it look like the pages are on fire!"

Honey Lemon looked down at the comic in his hand...and froze.

The full-page panel in front of her had the titular Captain Fancy fighting against some sort of mutant, flames coming out of his hands. Half of his body was heavily burned, the scars prevalent even in the drawing.

And his eyes were dark red…and the hair was jet black...

Her mind flashed back to her recurring nightmare of Tadashi, the sounds of Fred's explanations getting drowned out. The fire, the pain, the agony.

"You OK, Honey Lemon?"

She looked up at his face, his eyes staring at her with concern. She now noticed the nervous sweat coming down her forehead and got up from her chair. "Sorry. I...need a minute."

She walked off to the bathroom and shut the door in a huff. Fred just stood there, the comic still in his hand.

"Was it something I said?"

* * *

Honey Lemon splashed some water over her face, her glasses resting on the sink. She let the water run down her chin, a couple of drops hitting her bare toes on the tile.

Fred didn't do it on purpose. He wouldn't have known. He _couldn't_ know.

Why did Tadashi continue to be on her mind? Why couldn't she just get over him? Can't he just get _out?_

She stared at herself in the mirror. The answer was obvious, of course. She was still in-

A soft knock came from the other side of the door. "Everything OK, HL?"

Honey Lemon straightened up and grabbed a washcloth to wipe her face. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Did you eat something bad?"

"No, I..." She sighed heavily as she sat down on the toilet seat. "I'm fine, Freddie. Just give me a minute."

She felt the steps walk away from the door. Her reply had come out a little harsher than she wanted, but she would take that over outright yelling at him. Again, wasn't his fault.

The sounds of her sewing machine starting up again caught her attention, and she got up to press her ear to the door. Yup, it was definitely that. But what was he doing? He didn't have any experience with embroidery.

"Ow!"

Case in point.

Honey Lemon grabbed her glasses and opened the door to see Fred hop out of the chair, holding his finger in pain. All she could do was shake her head.

"Freddie..."

* * *

_Thirty seconds later…_

Honey Lemon cut off the last of the gauze and wrapped it around his finger. She took a small cat sticker and put it down on the tip of his finger. "Keep that on there, OK? I don't want you to injure any other part of your hand, OK?"

The owner of the injured hand winced as she put pressure onto it. "I'll try. Who knew that sewing machines were so dangerous?"

She didn't respond as she finished her work. At least she could add Fred's injury to the multiple ones her grandmother had on it.

"I was just trying to help," he whispered.

"I know, Freddie." Honey Lemon absentmindedly stroked the bandaged finger, lost in thought. "I know."

Fred's fingers closed around her palm. "I did something wrong, didn't I?"

"No. You didn't. I just..."

Honey Lemon paused again. This conversation wasn't going to end well. It was bad enough that Go Go knew about her problems with Tadashi (although that was her own fault); she didn't want to burden anyone else with them.

But maybe…

"Freddie, do you believe in fate?"

"Fate?"

She looked over his shoulder and to the night sky. "Yeah. Predetermined fates, outcomes can't be changed, the crushing weight of events being inevitable. That sort of thing."

Fred squinted his eyes, taking his time to come up with a response. This was different from the impulsive person that he normally was, but it was a nice change of pace.

"I used to."

Her gaze went back to him, her interest piqued. "What changed?"

"...Tadashi."

She breathed in sharply at the mention of his name.

"I mean, he was part of the reason, but I think the thing that changed my mind the most was my comics." Seeing Honey Lemon's look of confusion, he nodded to the comic still on the table. "Like in that issue, Captain Fancy manages to convince Franklin Flame to turn good. Flame had thought that because he was made in a secret underground facility that he _had_ to be bad. But nobody _has_ to be anything. You chose who you want to be."

Honey Lemon inched closer to him, still grasping his hand. She found herself in the rare situation of looking up at him; the heels she normally wore were next to the door, so he had a good couple of inches on her.

"Was that the answer you were looking for?"

She didn't reply to his question, instead opting to squeeze his hand further. She put her best smile, the one that he knew he liked. "Thank you, Freddie."

"I...don't know what I did, but you're welcome."

Her face crept closer to his, now only an inch apart.

"Honey Lemon?" Fred said, his voice barely audible.

The sound of a key entering the doorknob knocked both Honey Lemon and Fred back down to Earth. To her horror, she realized that their hands were still locked together, her other one on his shoulder. If _she_ walked in and saw them...they would never hear the end of it.

Three seconds later, the door swung open, revealing the second paying occupant of the living space.

"Hey, guys. What's-"

Go Go looked around the apartment. Between Fred burying his head into a comic book on his stupid beanbag chair and Honey Lemon staring hard at her sewing machine work, something was definitely up. She just didn't know _what_. She felt like she just missed something.

"...Up?"

"Hi, Go Go!" Honey Lemon waved to her. "How was the gym?"

"...Fine." The Korean closed the door behind her, setting her boxing gloves down on the dresser. "How goes the sewing?"

"Good! I even got some help from Freddie!"

Go Go turned to him, who sheepishly held up his bandaged finger. "I _tried_ to, anyway."

"Uh...huh."

Yup, she most _definitely_ missed something.

"I'm going to go grab some soda from the machine downstairs." Fred suddenly jolted up from his sitting position, fishing around his pocket for spare change. "You two want anything?"

"I'll take orange, if they have it."

"Go Go?"

She stared for a long moment at Fred, still trying to read him. Whatever she was thinking about, Honey Lemon thought, couldn't mean anything good. "Make it two."

"Sweet! Be right back."

Fred walked out the open door, and Go Go stepped aside to shut it behind him. As soon as it stopped moving, the Latina returned her attention to her machine, because she knew that if she looked up, it would be like looking into the belly of the beast.

"Ahem."

Nope. Not looking up.

"Honey Lemon, I _know_ something happened. You can make this easy and just tell me, or we can do this the hard way."

She finished her last basting stitch and turned the knob on the machine, subbing in the black thread with brown.

"OK. Hard way it is, then."

She felt something slide across the table and looked down. A crisp five dollar bill was now in front of her, two of Go Go's fingers laying upon it.

"We got a deal?" Go Go smirked.

Honey Lemon took the bill off the table and fiddled with it for a few moments. After a bit, an origami crane was slapped into her roommate's hand, its wings large and majestic.

"Sorry, Go Go."

She finally looked up at her face, a wry smile growing on her own. "I'm not buying what you're selling."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Let's see if people can figure out the final cameo I put in this series. It's...really not that hard.

I find it a little weird that not that many people ship Honey Lemon/Fred. I always thought it was kind of obvious with the way they interact with each other.

To be fair, I think it would take a rather long time for anything of substance to happen between those two, especially with Honey Lemon still being hung up on Tadashi. But it goes to show that maybe living in the past is not the right thing to do. Live in the present.

And for the love of God, be careful around sewing machines. Take it from eighth-grade me who had to learn how to use one during Home Ec Class.

As always, I appreciate everyone who has left reviews, likes, favorites, and kudos for this story. The viewership tailed off a bit for the last two chapters (understandable, due to the break halfway to write **Continuity** ), but hey. Can't win them all.

Read and review, if you like. Also read and review the prologue of **Fathom** , which will be posted the same day as this. It's my new story, and I am very excited to share it with you guys.

Until next time.


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